Who Are You Following Anyway?

Some might say the Book of Revelation is too hard to understand, but I would challenge you to join this study and see if it doesn't make sense and you gain a clarity you didn't have before. I know I have and thus the reason for sharing it with you. Grab a Bible and a notebook and join in the fun in this study.

We have been studying the rise of the Antichrist, both in nature and character. The word Antichrist means impostor Christ or instead of Christ. Jesus provided a warning that deception would be coming just before His return. This Antichrist will become a legend so much in his own mind that he will stand in the temple in Jerusalem and proclaim himself to be god.

If you don't know the Bible, you might already find yourselves being deceived, even though what someone is saying sounds correct. We need to open our Bibles and compare it to what God says in regards to what is being said and forget about what we "feel."

In the teaching and preaching of the ministry of Jesus about what the signs would be before the end times, He provides such clarity.

Matthew 24:3-5, 11, 15 ~ "As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sing of your coming and of the close of the age?" And Jesus answered them, "See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, "I am the Christ and they will lead many astray."  And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),"

Jesus reminds us that the number one thing we need to be wary of is being deceived. Many will be deceived, both in the authority of Jesus and coming to them in His Name, but they are not. Look at the level of deception in the world today by false prophets, cults, false teachers, false gospels and even false Christs. Are there more of these in the world today than say the last 100 years? Absolutely! More than you can count and they are growing every day.

In Matthew 24:15 this is a culminating event for the Antichrist to stand in the temple and declare himself to be god. In order for that to happen, there has to be a temple built and that will happen one day on a vacant plot of land that sits waiting for that to happen.

Matthew 24:32-33 ~ "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates."

We need to understand this parable and learn the truth that is conveys. When spring comes it seems one day the trees are on the verge of budding and then the next day, it bursts forth in color and newness. This means it will be sudden. Some scholars believe that the fig tree represents Israel and that when we see events happening in Israel we should be looking up. Israel became a nation again for the second time in one day on May 14, 1948. The entire future program of God is centered around the nation of Israel and the return of Jesus Christ to that Israel.

Regarding false prophets and false teachers, the apostle Paul warned...

Galatians 1:8-9 ~ "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, 'let him be accursed.' As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, 'let him be accused."

The Antichrist has an agenda of deception. It will be a global event by political means.

Revelation 13:1-10 ~ "And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?" The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast - all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. He who has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints."

Daniel 8:25 ~ "By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall become great. Without warning he shall destroy man. And he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken - but by no human hand."

He engineers a 7 year peace treaty but he will deceive the world through this peace. He will impress the U.N. and the European Union. He will out politic the United States and the world will love him because he will be their man!

He will come by religious mockery.

Luke 21:17 ~ "You will be hated by all for my name's sake."

The moment you mention, Jesus Christ, the Bible or God, you will be hated by those who hear you and this is only going to increase. The global system of mockery of biblical Christianity and the biblical Jesus. The world hates a real Christian and the world hates a real Jesus. If we feed the homeless, the world hates us because they are not the ones doing it and they feel bad. Why is it when you curse, you'll say the name of Jesus or ask God to condemn something or someone. Because there is power in that name. No one even feels better after they do it either because there is a spirit against Jesus in the world today.

You will only hear more and more blasphemous doctrine and speech in the days ahead. Even now you hear of people being shot simply because they confess they are Christians over any other religion or that they believe in Jesus. Why is that? When you probe these people you will find out that deep inside of them, they have been hurt by someone or upset them under the premise of saying that they believe in Jesus like a church leader or teacher.

The question I have is who are you following anyway?

Why Would Jesus Come Back?

When you look at the state of the world around us, makes you wonder why Jesus would want to come back home. Kinda like a parent who returns home from a trip only to find their kids had one heck of a party while they were gone and left the home a complete mess. Isn't that what Jesus is likely to find when He comes back. What have we done with His place, since He has been gone and more to the point, why would He ever want to come back here?

Yet when you tell people Jesus is coming back, you will generally get one of two likely replies. (1) people will be happy and look forward to it, or (2) they aren't the slightest bit happy. Kinda like the teen who finds out their parents are suddenly coming home, much earlier than they expected and they haven't had time to fix things so they won't get in trouble.

But one thing is certain, because for those of us that believe in the Bible, we know that the promises made in it are 100% accurate and either have come true or will come true, simply because it hasn't happened yet.

Acts 1:7-11 ~ "He said to them, "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking up intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside the. "Men of Gailee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." (NIV).

This event obviously has happened yet, but the signs of the end times are being staged. So why does Jesus have to come back at all?

1. Political reasons. ~ Deuteronomy 32:8 ~ "When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided up all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. " (NIV).

God has established the boundaries of nations. He gives them leaders as they are needed. There is no one in any form of government that will solve the issues the world is facing.

Matthew 24:3-7 ~ "As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" Jesus answered, "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, "I am the Christ,: and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom."(NIV).

The alignment of nations that will band together will need to happen. This is already happening with the United States of Europe or US of E since 1991. We know a great political leader will rise up as the coming anti-Christ. He will come in the place of Christ and seem to solve all the world's problems and reign over the ancient empires.

2. Societal Events ~ social ills and trends in society.

We know in the last days there will be a since of general lawlessness.

Matthew 24:10-12 ~ "At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold." (NIV).

We already see this happening in our cities and towns. Where people are suffering and yet no one is moved to do anything to help them. One woman veered off the road in Washington and many people saw her. Yet she remained in her car for over 8 days before anyone found her. She later died from her injuries. Why? Because people are growing cold to what is happening all around and they have lost the ability to care about people anymore.

We will see an increase in racial divisions.

There are simply too many examples to what we are seeing as a growing trend in racial divisions. In the Greek when the Bible speaks of 'kingdoms against kingdoms" it is actually the world ethnos, which is where we get the word ethnic from. Meaning ethnic groups will fight against ethnic groups. We fail to understand that we all bleed the same color. We need to preach the gospel and let God's Word speak for itself not as representatives like Rev. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton continue to pollute what God's Word has to say. We should be creating unity not division among the culture and ethnic groups. It is becoming a wedge in our society to create division. God is the biggest, when our lives our a mess.

There will be a rise in abhorrent sexuality.

This means there will be clear violations in the laws of nature, especially when it comes to sexual issues. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to clearly spell out that abhorrent sexuality among the same genders destroys the species. Two women can not produce off spring so the species will die, just like two men cannot produce offspring so they too will die off. Only with the increase in what is now acceptable, from television programming, movies, social media and more, is creating the message that clearly spells out, "Well that is just the way it is now."

Jesus stated that before He returns that the world will be like it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah and in the days of Noah:

Luke 17:26-30 ~ "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating , drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed." (NIV).

There will be those who refuse to believe.

2 Peter 3:3-7 ~ "First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everyone goes on as it has since the beginning of creation. But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that times was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men." (NIV).

We are warned of what we need to be doing now. Not doing the things of the world, but looking into the Bible for the standards of lives we should be living.

2 Peter 3:11 ~ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming."(NIV).

As we see the signs begin to grow in intensity and in frequency, know this. Jesus is coming back. Will you be ready when He does?